India RubTech Expo 2004 held.

India Rub-Tech Expo 2004, National Conference & Exposition on Rubber & Allied Materials, organized by the Indian Rubber Institute, in association with the Hari Shankar Singhania Elastomer and Tire Research Institute (HASETRI), will take place February 13-14 at the Hotel Kaynes in Mysore (Karnataka), India.

Plenary sessions on recent advances in natural rubber technology and the latest trends in rubber processing machinery are planned.

Approximately 50 technical papers will be presented in the two parallel plenary sessions on such subjects as polymeric materials and compounding; rubber processing and engineering; characterization and testing; tire development and simulation techniques; rubber components for automobiles; energy consumption and optimization; recycling and the environment; and quality and cost competitiveness.

Workshops on molded and extruded rubber goods and latex technology will also be part of the conference.

An exhibition of rubber and allied materials will run concurrently with the conference, featuring international suppliers of rubber goods, raw materials and machinery.

Technical presentations scheduled for India Rub-Tech Expo 2004 will include the following:

"Study of the steel cord rubber adhesion in non-stationary conditions," F. Paven and S. Agresti, Societa Pneumatici Pirelli, Italy;

"Recent developments in rubber processing equipment," D. Dekel and A. Lisovsky, Pelmar Engineering Ltd., Israel;

"Reinforcing systems for the rubber industry," Tan Ewe Hong, Degussa Huels, Taiwan;

"Tire treadwear," Padmanabha Pillai, MTI Associates;

"Reclaiming of natural rubber-based latex products," V.V. Rajah, University of Twente, The Netherlands;

"Optimization of rubber mixing rooms by modernization or new equipment," Ing. A. Limper, ThyssenKrupp Elastomertechnik, Germany;

"Kinetic modeling of polyisoprene oxidation: A way to predict an elastomer lifetime," Ludmila Audouin, Ecole Nationale Superieure d'Arts et Metiers, France;

"EPDM polymer characteristics and selection following the demands of the automotive industry on sealing system applications," Tommy Odenhamn, DSM Elastomers:

"Utilization of the fabric process in short fiber reinforced rubber products," N. Premlakshmi, Anna University, MIT Campus, Chennai:

"Hysteresis loss of rubber vulcanizates: Development of dimensionless parameters," K.K. Kar and J.U. Otaigbe, MIT and the University of Southern Mississippi;

"Finite element analysis of elastomeric seal," M. Rawat and J.U. Otaigbe, MIT and University of Southern Mississippi;

"Quality and cost competitiveness in the rubber industry," R. Mukhopadhyay, Hasetri, India:

"Mechanical properties of acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber/clay nanocomposite," Changwoon Nah, South Korea;

"Defense quality web for tires," Shri P. Somasundaram, Ministry of Defense, Ahmednagar, India;

"Development of tires in defense," Deepak Sharma, Ministry of Defense, Ahmednagar, India;

"Extruders and extrusion process--technology for the rubber industry: The present and future," S.K. Mustafi, Apollo Tires Ltd., India;

"Status of ambient air quality in rubber processing industries: Occupational health hazard techniques," K. Balasubramanian, Madras Institute of Technology, India;

"Coating of jute with natural rubber and chlorinated polyethylene," D. Das, Institute of Jute Technology and Bengal Waterproof Ltd., India;

"Nanofiller as vulcanizing aid for polyacrylic elastomer," R.N. Mahaling, IIT-Kharagpur;

"SPC implementation in the tire industry," Sanjit Ray, ISI, and H.N. Ramesh, DGM-QA, JKI-VTP, India;

"Reinforcing materials," speaker from DuPont.

Further information on India Rub-Tech Expo 2004 is available from K.J. Janakar, tel.: [phone]; email: [e-mail].